WAITING
HABAKKUK CHAPTER 2: 1 – 3
“I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. Then the Lord replied:
“Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and not delay”
Or as, the King James Version says:
Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
Introduction:
Its one of the things we all find so difficult – to wait and especially to wait patiently! Being busy and active, trying to keep up with our often hectic and frantic schedules is one thing, but having to wait just isn’t easy – is it?
Perhaps it’s a case of not being in control. Maybe we have waited so long we have given up. One of the hardest things while selling and buying our new house recently has been all the waiting for things to happen. When it comes to waiting we want it now!
I remember one of those humorously written lists showing how much of our lives are taken up with waiting:
· The supermarket checkout – and yes the queue you pick is always the slowest!
· Waiting for traffic lights to turn red, or even worse for the bus to arrive – do you notice they often turn up - eventually - in twos?
· Waiting in the surgery, looking round and wondering, discreetly of course, what is wrong with people – and sympathising with Mums having to control their lively toddlers in a public place?
· Waiting for your food to arrive in a busy restaurant – and getting hungrier by the minute?
· Perhaps looking back, the times we had to wait for exam results, results of medical tests, all those anxious times of waiting and feeling helpless.
Interestingly the suggestion was that we use those times of waiting to pray – for the people and situations around us!
So, perhaps you can guess our theme today is “Waiting”! But before we begin to look at what the Bible has to teach us on this subject, I want to share with you that I believe “Waiting” is a Word God is whispering to His Church today.
Examples:
You know the Bible has many examples of God’s people having to wait – often it seems to me beyond endurance!
· Lets take a look at Elijah. Scripture says, “Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land” (1 Kings 17:7).
Can you imagine how it must have been for Elijah to wait, week after week, not knowing how he was going to survive as he watched the brook dwindle and finally dry up?
Extract from Streams in the Desert Devotional book:
“Elijah’s brook dwindled to only a silver thread, … the pools evaporated, the birds flew away, … for the brook became completely dry. And only then, to Elijah’s patient and faithful spirit did the word of the Lord come and say, “Go at once to Zarephath”.
“Most of us would have become anxious and tired, and would have made other plans long before God spoke. Our singing would have stopped as soon as the stream flowed less musically over its rocky bed. We would have hung up our harps on the willows nearby and begun pacing back and forth on the withering grass, worrying about our predicament. And probably, long before the brook actually dried up, we would have devised some plan, asked God to bless it, and headed elsewhere”.
Maybe your brook is running dry today, can I say don’t go off and do your own thing; wait for the Lord to guide you to His next step of provision – like Elijah you will have a new source of supply - freshly baked bread instead of raven’s meat!
“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord”. (Psalm 27:14) Patiently wait!
Why does God keep us waiting?
Testing our faith
“He knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I shall come forth as gold”. (Job 23:10)
· Abraham: It was a long wait for the promised child - Abraham was already 75 when he left his country in response to God’s call. After eleven years of waiting Abraham went along with Sarah’s alternative plan - for Abraham to have a child by Sarah’s maidservant Hagar.
However, by taking matters into their own hands only meant a longer wait! It may well be that any human possibility of having a child had to be completely eliminated. For Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac, the promised son was born - and there was an Ishmael to contend with!
Lets wait for God’s perfect plan and timing
How should we wait?
Wait Patiently!
· Noah: God told Noah (Gen 6: 14 & 17) that He was going to bring floodwaters on the earth and instructed Noah to build an Ark. It must have seemed a long time waiting for the promised floods and just to keep on building the ark to save his family in faith that God was going to do what He had promised.
Interestingly, 1Peter 3:20 says “God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the Ark was being built”. Trying to put together MFI flat pack furniture for our new home I can only sympathise!
Wait obediently!
· The Disciples were told by Jesus (Acts 1:4&5) “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift … in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit”. Interestingly, it says in verse 14 & 15 that they all joined together constantly in prayer; and it appears the number of believers was about 120. Yet Paul tells us in I Corinthians 15:6, that Jesus appeared to more than 500 of the brothers. Where were the others – up to 380 seemed to have given up waiting and gone AWOL!
However, the other believers continued to wait in obedience for the Holy Spirit as Jesus had commanded. When you are waiting for God to act keep on doing the things you already know you should be doing while you wait patiently – the time will pass quickly, it will be spent usefully and you won’t miss out on what God is doing! Don’t go AWOL!
Wait and be expectant!
· In Luke Chapter 1, Zechariah is told by the Angel that his prayer has been heard and he will have a son. His response however is, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well on in years?” In other words “It’s too late” - the waiting process seems to have been too long to keep the dream alive. Having given up waiting for an answer to his prayer he is startled to find out God has not forgotten – the time had come!
Be expectant – even if it seems a long time ago that you have laid your heart’s desire before the Lord with seemingly no answer.
Remember: Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come
Waiting for a sign?
(Judges 6:36-40)
We can only debate whether Gideon’s idea of laying a fleece was a good idea or not! After all he already had God’s promise that Israel would be saved by Gideon’s hand. So why the wait?
Was it a delaying tactic? Or was he so lacking in confidence that he needed a sign to go ahead?
You know, even when the sign was confirmed - just as Gideon asked, this did not really answer Gideon’s problem. Because when God graciously confirms his test, Gideon now needs another sign!
· Are you waiting for a sign from God to obey something you already know He has told you to do?
· Are you delaying? Yes we need to be sure it is God talking to us. But if God has confirmed His word to you … the wait is over. Go, obey! He will be with you - there is no need to fear. Its been said that:
Wherever God’s finger points, His hand will clear a way.
Whatever was going on in Gideon’s heart, or indeed in ours at times, what a wonderful picture of our Father’s heart of compassion and love. As Gideon stumbles and delays with his need for signs, God just meets him where he is and leads him on gently towards the goal, - one step at a time. He will do the same for you.
We are not alone in this painful process of waiting:
Creation Groans!
“Creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed … the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves … groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, … but if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently”
Romans 8:19 – 25
If it seems a long hard weary slog to wait remember creation groans with us- waiting for Jesus to return, waiting for all the wrongs to be put right, waiting for everything to be made new, perfect and glorious. Its really going to be worth the pain of waiting – God has promised that “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” I Corinthians 2:9.
God Waits too! - The Gospel.
“And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgement; blessed are all they that wait for him”. ISAIAH 30:18 KJV
Isn’t it amazing that God, the creator and ruler of this whole universe waits! You can know that God waits for you, to come to Him, to be gracious to you. Just think about that – God is patiently waiting for you to come to Him through Jesus, through what has been done on the Cross for you. Jesus paid the price for your sin, failures and mistakes, He waits with open arms to receive you today, to give you a fresh start, a hope, a future with Him:
“Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in his name, He gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12
Finally:
Are you waiting today? Does it seem hopeless? Have you given up? Tired and wore out?
Lets make the promise in Isaiah 40:31 our prayer:
“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” ISAIAH 40:31 KJV
For our God is faithful, in His perfect timing He will do what He has promised. For us, I believe God is saying:”
